Put away the foreign gods

The text from the Book of Joshua in the Roman Catholic Lectionary for today is intent on advising the Israelites to "put away the foreign gods that are among you". Joshua challenges the people and us to consider both the grace of God which we have known in our life journey and our response to that grace. We, like the Israelites in the passage, are often distracted by the other gods in our life which may be related to our need to see ourself as the centre of our existence. Position, privilege, gratification, respect, pride and possessions are only some of the 'foreign gods' which anger God as they sap from our being the life and liveliness which our intimate relationship with the Divine invites us to know. The Gospel from Matthew shows Jesus strong assertion that we need to understand living like the children who are attracted to Him in the text without attention to and attention by the "adult concerns" which distract us from the joy and security of relationship as experienced by children and intended for all.